Police rescue woman, three children from submerged truck

<p>Mahwah police performed a series of rescues Friday evening after a woman and three children became trapped in a submerged pickup truck.</p>

News 12 Staff

Mar 31, 2018, 2:36 AM

Updated 2,356 days ago

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Police rescue woman, three children from submerged truck
Mahwah police performed a series of rescues Friday evening after a woman and three children became trapped in a submerged pickup truck.
According to Lt. Philip Tangle, police were contacted by a resident around 7:40 p.m. after the caller observed a truck submerged in the Ramapo River near Jersey Avenue.
Tangle said that when officers arrived, they found that the driver was out of the truck but yelled to officers that there was still a woman and three children in the vehicle in the water.
"The water was deep in that area and was flooding the truck," Tangle told News 12 New Jersey.
As the truck became increasingly submerged, Tangle said the officers, one by one, tied rope around their waists and went into the water to remove the passengers from the vehicle. Tangle says the officers took the children out first. The officers then carried the victims back to the shore.
"Our officers were pretty brave," Tangle said. "The water was freezing."
The victims were all checked by EMS crews and were uninjured, despite the frigid temperature of the water, Tangle said. They all refused further medical attention or transportation to a hospital.
Tangle said the vehicle became submerged after the driver, who had been "four-wheeling" in the shallow section of the Ramapo River, attempted to cross back to the other side but became stuck in a deep section of water and was unable to turn around.
A tow crew was unable to pull the truck out of the river Friday night because it was too dark, Tangle said. Workers will attempt to pull the vehicle out again Saturday morning during daylight hours.